Late nights in the laundry (AU)
by Profiling Hotly
Summary: College AU. A young Aaron Hotchner finally musters up the courage to speak to the mysterious brunette transfer.


_A/N: This is a rough piece I wrote in response to a tumblr prompt a long long time ago. I hope you enjoy :) xo  
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**Prompt: Met doing laundry at 2am college au**

He couldn't believe he was doing this.

Between all the assignments, soccer training, student council, habitat for humanity and the frat parties (parties of which he generally didn't bring himself to stay at too long- they just weren't his scene) he hardly had any time to sleep as it was.

Yet here he was at 2am, going down with a pile of _clean _clothes in his hands to the laundry room.

Yes, he washing clothes that were already clean at two in the morning.

He loved college; it challenged him in ways that he'd never expected. It was opening him up to a whole world that his tiny hometown of Verona, Virginia would never have been able to. He was meeting all different kinds of people, some with such varying backgrounds that he could hardly believe they were real people.

Like the girl who was the reason _why_ he was going to the laundry room with no clothes to really wash at two in the morning.

He didn't know a lot about her.

Her name was Emily Prentiss. She lived in his dorm. She hard gorgeous shiny black hair, alabaster skin- so pale you'd almost think she was from some northern Scandinavian country that never saw the sun- and a pair of long, toned legs that seemed to go on and on for days.

Rumour had it that she was an ambassador's kid. That she'd lived in over fifteen countries and spoke at least eight languages.

She was in his behavioural psychology class, and he was finding his grades starting to slip, because he just couldn't stop staring at her.

Girls that looked like her tended to be fast tracked into all the right groups at college. They dated the jocks, were invited to all the coolest parties, got away with practically any debauchery and mischief they wanted while still somehow managing to keep a 4.0 GPA.

But not Emily.

He'd watched over the first few weeks of the semester as many guys had tried and failed to get her attention.

He'd noticed how she'd shied away from any girls who tried to befriend her.

She'd earned a reputation as the hot, snobby, foreign girl.

Yet despite that Aaron found himself entranced.

As he entered the basement laundry room he made sure to make his presence known. He didn't want to creep up on her and frighten her. He just wanted her to be at ease.

"Looks like I'm not the only night owl in this dorm."

_/Smooth Aaron, so smooth/_

He rolled his eyes internally as he berated himself.

Emily turned from where she was standing opposite the washer, looking at him quizzically, an inscrutable expression on her face.

"You're not a night owl."

Hotch coughed awkwardly, trying to find a suave way to hide his surprise.

"Sorry?"

"You've been watching me. I know you've just been trying to find the balls to talk to me. I'm up doing things every night. I've never seen you around this late before. You're not a night owl. Tell me I'm wrong," her eyes were challenging as her arms came to fold over her chest.

Aaron watched her closely, not entirely sure how to respond.

Not sure if he even _wanted_ to respond.

He was panicking.

"Uh…"

_/Shit, shit, shit- abort mission, abort mission!/_

He started to retreat back towards the door, an apologetic look on his face.

"You're not wrong. I'm sorry for disturbing you. I'll just…ah… go,"

He turned just as he felt the flush rise on his face and went to leave, but was stopped by the sound of her voice.

"No, wait!"

He paused mid-step, once more turning on his heel, his eyes rising to meet her apprehensively. He tried to school his features as he reshuffled his laundry bag on his shoulder.

"Yeah"

"Well… aren't you going to tell me your name?" her voice was much more placid than it had been before, a coy smile tugging at her lips.

Aaron just outright stared at her stupidly. He'd been ready to haul up in his room for the night, feeling like an idiot for thinking that he was different from all the other guys that had tried to chat her up before.

"My… my name?"

She grinned at him, closing the distance between them, tipping her head to the side.

"You do have one of those don't you?"

He smiled, a dimple popping out as his hand dropped into his pocket sheepishly.

"Aaron, Aaron Hotchner. You're Emily, Emily Prentiss."

Her grin widened.

"I am Emily, Emily Prentiss," she teased lightly, shooting him a tiny wink.

Little did he know that while he'd been not so subtly watching her, she'd been watching him.

He was different.

He wasn't into drinking and partying. His good looks hadn't turned him into an arrogant jackass. He actually seemed quite… shy. As though he hadn't figured out yet just how much command his presence actually seemed to garner in a room.

He was interesting.

They stood quietly together for a minute, his sparkling hazel eyes surveying her more mysterious dark brown, both their mouths turned just slightly upward.

"So, are you going to ask me?"

"Ask you what?"

"On that coffee date"

He chuckled as his eyes fell to the ground, his feet pointed inward, his embarrassment evident.

He'd been caught out.

Looking back up at her, he swallowed thickly.

"Depends, are you going to say yes?"

She smirks up at him, giving him a pointed look.

"Well I suppose you'll just have to ask me and find out."

He rolls his eyes as he closes the gap and put his hands on her waist, holding her gently just before him.

His voice is dramatic but his smile sincere.

"Will you…Emily… Emily Prentiss, please escort me for a beverage of the caffeinated kind sometime in the near future."

She laughed and nodded her head, turning out of his embrace and heading back over to her laundry.

"This is nearly done. We can go to the Starbucks on Swanston Street" she turned, raising an eyebrow, a knowing look in her eye.

"I'm willing to bet three coffees that you don't even have clothes in there that really need washing."

His cheeks reddened, finding himself blushing slightly again, giving an awkward laugh before answering.

"Uh… yeah, busted."

She smiled gleefully.

"See, now you owe me three dates"

He leaned against the edge of the doorway, shaking his head and running his hand over his tired face.

She was going to be a handful.

He was looking forward to it.

"I think that can be arranged. Now get a move on Prentiss, I'd rather not have us roaming the streets too much later."

"Oh please don't tell me you're one of those over paranoid types"

"I'm not over paranoid, it's called being hyper-vigilant. Did you know that in the last three months alone there has been over eighty attempted robberies in our district, you can never be too…"

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_A/N: This was super rough and I wasn't sure where to end it, but thanks for reading :)_


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